Looking Back At My Old Sketchbooks

You know, they say you should keep your old sketchbooks so you can look back and see how much you’ve improved. I kept all of mine, not because of that but because I have never thrown away anything in my life and I’m not going to start now. Which means! Today we’re diving deep into the abyss that is my pile of old sketchbooks. What could possibly go wrong!

Disclaimer: I’m just here to roast myself, not anyone else who’s just starting drawing, or commits the art felony of drawing on lined paper. Let’s just have fun and have a little chortle together.

Here’s the first book! Technically not a sketchbook, but a composition notebook, so prepare yourself for lines. Seeing as my middle school nickname is written on the front, I was probably 11 or 12 when I filled this one.

Let’s open ’em up-

Maybe this was a bad idea….

I… don’t remember the context for this? What is the horn? What does this mean? I’m so confused.

I don’t, and never have, drawn cats like this. Why is he so wiiiiiiiide? Why are his eyes glassy as if he were about to cry? What does the number 4 signify?

This is just turning into me questioning what I was even doing in middle school.

There are a lot of these. I picked my personal favorites. I just really liked drawing girls with large heads.

Another thing I drew a lot of: TNT. I had a weird fixation with it.

I don’t even know why.

That concludes book 1. On to this sketch pad, which I filled from around 2017-2018.

What horrors could be contained within?

That, I guess. Okay then.

Yeah, I was EDGY. I wasn’t afraid to draw MAN with SCARS and SHINY ANIME EYES even though I didn’t really watch anime. The real gritty stuff.

Pro art tip: if you don’t know how to draw hands, just draw very small lobster claws. Works like a charm.

I actually found one I liked, so here’s a nice palette cleanser.

So……. Heh heh….. I really wanted to draw realistically, but didn’t have a good grasp of facial proportions. Hence, welcome to the uncanny valley.

I keep trying to form sentences, but then I look at her deep into her eyes and lose my train of thought, so let’s just move on….

Her legs are the same length as her head + neck, and ya know, it was an artistic choice and I can appreciate that.

Imprisoned for “mouth too big for face” crimes.

We’ve made it to the final sketchbook.

This one kind of overlaps with the last one, as it’s from around 2018.

Fun fact: this was my profile picture on Kingdom Pen for a while. Sure, it has its flaws, but it was the first time in my life I drew a person with a normal sized head, and that’s improvement, babyyyyy!

Still can’t draw hands. That’s super pound sign relatable, am I right fellow kids?

I peaked as a writer in 2018, when I wrote the character Saberfloof, a giant kitten with the teeth of a saber tooth tiger. I cannot outdo that.

 

That’s all the weird art I have for you today. Hope you had a nice lil adventure through these old sketchbooks!

But for real though, if you draw don’t throw away your old art keep it so you can look back at it and be confused it’s really fun.